Ridley Scott's directorial debut The Duellists was set during the Napoleonic Wars, but period drama didn't feature the man himself.
46 years later.
Joaquin Phoenix - Napoleon
Vanessa Kirby - Joséphine
Tahar Rahim - Paul Barras
Mark Bonnar - Junot
Rupert Everett - Duke of Wellington
Youssef Kerkour - Marshal Davout
Ian McNiece - Louis XVIII
Ben Miles - Caulaincourt
Summary
The turbulent rise and fall of military genius Napoleon Bonaparte is played out in chronological order.
Command and conquer
Grandiose epic fails to emulate Gladiator, but still a fine piece of cinema.
Ignoring nationalities (literally), historical inaccuracies include Napoleon present during Marie Antoinette's beheading and meeting Wellington in person.
Also, given his admiration for Ancient Egypt, it's highly unlikely that he would've ordered his army to target the pyramids.
Phoenix's portrayal is quirky, egocentric, funny and ruthless, but 'power-hungry upstart' can throw silly tantrums.
David Scarpa's script is generally competent, but Phoenix barking: "You think you're so great because you have boats!" at a British ambassador was unintentionally hilarious.
Kirby excels as a cruel slut and Everett is great value in the last 20 minutes.
"Boney's Old Bird Caught Out of the Nest Again"
Yeah, that's how newspaper headline bizarrely shames her promiscuity.
WTF?
Battle sequences initially last as long as Napoleon in bed, but Austerlitz and Waterloo (albeit with CG) are pretty spectacular.
However, incomparable to Waterloo (1970).
4 hour long director's cut is coming to Apple TV+ next year and it'll be interesting to see if leaving out 90 minutes or so was for the best.
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